Himanshu Tiwari

The integration of traditional knowledge with modern technologies can significantly strengthen community resilience in managing natural resources through several key aspects. Traditional knowledge, often based on long-term experience and adapted to local ecological conditions, provides valuable insights into sustainable practices for using land, water, and forests. When this knowledge is combined with modern technologies such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS), satellite monitoring, and digital data analysis tools, communities gain more accurate and timely information about the state of natural resources. This enables better planning, more efficient monitoring, and faster response to environmental changes like drought or soil erosion. Furthermore, such integration helps preserve cultural identity and encourages local community engagement, as traditional methods are not disregarded but rather enhanced and adapted to contemporary challenges. This increases the capacity of communities to manage resources sustainably, reduce risks of degradation, and improve their resilience to climate change and other environmental threats.

Within community-managed forests and, to some extent, state-governed ones, it is possible to integrate the indigenous knowledge on the use of trees for activities such as beekeeping, medicinal purposes, and wild fruits with the modern technologies such as remote sensing & GIS to ascertain the survival rate of rehabilitated forests.